Yesterday, far-right influencer Kaitlin Bennett posted a photo of empty shelves—save four cases of Bud Light—in a Florida grocery store, proof that even when Floridians are stocking up for a hurricane, they still won’t drink “woke” beer.
But many noticed that the beer cases were on a set of shelves marked for bottled water, and think that Bennett staged the photo.
Bennett, better known as the Kent State gun girl, became famous for carrying a rifle around Kent State University in 2018. She later organized open-carry rallies and is now a well-known far-right activist.
“Turns out Floridians are desperate, but not THAT desperate!” Bennett captioned her photo on X. “Bud Lights remain completely untouched.”
The photo shows four cases of Bud Light on a shelf above three empty shelves. There is a sign on the shelf a level below the beers that says “Publix Water Drinking.”
Publix is a Florida-based grocery chain.
Ring-wing activists organized a boycott of Bud Light beer last year after the company partnered with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The boycott is a common reference in conservative circles.
Some took Bennett’s photo as fact, including Chaya Raichik, who runs the anti-LGBTQ X account @LibsOfTikTok.
“Nobody wants groomer juice,” Raichik tweeted about Bennett’s photo. The term “groomer,” which signifies forging an exploitative relationship with a minor, is used by the far-right to refer to members of the LGBTQ community, who they claim groom children. The claims are considered homophobic and untrue.
“[Hurricanes] can’t bring Bud Light back to life,” Tennessee gun retailer Harvey’s Pistol and Pawn tweeted.
But others claimed the photo was staged.
“A single row of Bud Light on the top shelf of the WATER aisle. Someone literally had to get these 6 aisle away, load them in a cart, roll them over here and place them up there for a staged picture,” Michael McWhorter, known online at @tizzyent, tweeted. “You guys are so fucking weird.”
However, in the image Bennett tweeted, different beers are visible to the right of the shelves, including Michelob Ultra, Kona, and Goose Island. So even if the photo was staged, Bennett wouldn’t have had to move the beer that far.
“Think it speaks more volumes about Florida that they stock bud light with the water,” another X user tweeted.
And, of course, some people took Bennett’s tweet as an opportunity to bring up the viral rumor that Bennett defecated on herself at a party.
“This is just your reminder that republicans threw a fit over bud light sending Dylan her own personalized box of bud light and that it was never sold in store,” an X user tweeted. “Also Kaitlin Bennett shit her pants at a party.”
“Does bud light make you pass out and shit yourself?” another X user said. “Asking for Kaitlin Bennett.”
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